Highschool Sweethearts
by embracing-shadows
Summary: Highschool quarterback and obsessed with his reputation, Nick become secret friends with Greg Sanders, the resident school ghost. Then one day they become something more, and Nick knows just how to tell the world.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!  
The song used is You Belong With Me by Taylor Swift.

* * *

Nick snorted as he hung up the slim cell phone his parents had bought him and shoved it back in to his pocket. Catherine was being a right bitch lately, and he was starting to wonder why exactly they were dating. Of course, the fact that she was smoking hot and the captain of the cheer squad might have helped. She was good for his reputation, and Nick's father was all about the reputation. Truth was, all Nick really wanted to do these days was hang out with that wacky Greg Sanders. No one knew they were friends; it wouldn't be great for Nick's popularity for people to find out that he and the biggest loser in school hung out. Surprisingly, Greg wasn't all that offended that he was being kept under wraps, one of the many things that Nick liked about him more than others.

It had started when Nick started to fail his science class and the teachers had threatened to end his football career if he didn't bring his grades back up. One of them had suggested Greg as a tutor and Nick had been flabbergasted. That loser…his tutor? That was more than a year ago, and Nick's attitude had changed a lot since then. Greg had brought him down from his pedestal pretty fast, deflating his ego by quickly demonstrating that, though a year younger, he was much smarter. Greg had helped Nick grow up a lot, mature a lot faster. And yet it was him that had suggested asking Catherine Willows out to help keep up his reputation as a jock jerk.

Now, Nick was regretting it. Catherine had a great body, but she only agreed to go out with him because it got her even higher up the food chain than she already was. He knew for a fact that she had already slept with a couple guys behind his back but he turned the other cheek. He didn't exactly put out for her, he wasn't that kind of guy, so he figured she had to get it from somewhere.

With a sigh, Nick kicked at a stone on the sidewalk and started walking again like he'd been before his phone rang. Catherine had wanted to bitch about him being busy tonight. She wanted him to go to the movies with her and her giggly friends, some awful chick flick. Nick would rather sit through one of Greg's science fiction movies than a chick flick. Actually, he was planning to. Only a couple minutes later he was standing at the front gate of the Sanders' very sizable home. He buzzed the 'doorbell' and one of the staff inside let him in. The driveway created a giant curve that three cars could easily sit side by side in, but Nick cut across the grass in the center like he did every time. When he reached the front door he didn't bother knocking. He was almost part of the family now, he was here so much.

Inside was even nicer than his own home, and his family had a lot of money with his father being a judge and his mother a public defender. Greg's family was rich on their own accord, but they also had some huge Norwegian inheritance thing going on that he'd never really figured out. Nick hurried across the shiny entrance hall and up the curving staircase. As he reached the second floor he was about to turn down the hall when a tall thin woman with long blonde hair stepped out of almost nowhere, and Nick almost ran right in to her.

"Nicholas, how are you dear?" Greg's mother Judy always called him dear. She was exceptionally warm towards him, and he suspected that it was because he was pretty much Greg's only friend. If she had any kind of bad opinion of him, she wouldn't dare voice it for fear that he would get offended and stop hanging out with her son. Nick offered her the same charming smile he always had for her.

"I'm fine, is Greg in his room?" he only asked on the off chance that she would actually know. In a house this big, it was hard to keep track of someone as energetic as Greg. Judy smiled a mysterious little smile and nodded.

"I'm pleased to announce that you have _finally_ rubbed off on him," she said. "His taste in music has suddenly improved lately and I happily blame you." She gave him a wink, but he frowned in confusion. Greg only ever listened to one style: screaming. He was in to things like Marilyn Manson. It was one of the only things that Nick didn't agree with him on, but was just another thing he happened to admire. At least Greg wasn't afraid to stand up for what he liked.

"What do you mean?" he asked eventually, realizing that he'd just been standing there looking at her funny. Judy made a cute little concentration face, the same one Greg made. It looked better on Greg though.

"He's been listening to this one artist…Taylor something…Taylor…Swift! Yes, that's the one; he's been listening to a lot of Taylor Swift. It's funny though, he always says that country is only ever unrequited love and suddenly he's been listening to quite a lot of unrequited love songs…hmm…I prefer that to Radiohead though so I won't complain." She paused and gave a vaguely thoughtful little smile then waved as she walked away, leaving him to his own devices. Nick watched her go, completely baffled.

When he snapped out of his reverie he strode quickly down the carpeted hallway to Greg's bedroom. The closer he got, the more he could hear that Greg had his music turned way up – again. He could also hear that it was indeed Taylor Swift's music, stuff that Nick was more likely to listen to. Carefully, the young teen crept up and opened the door a sliver. Greg had obviously been doing homework of some sort then gotten distracted like usual. There were books and papers spread all over the end of his bed, but Greg was in the middle of the room, dancing as a new song started. Then he started to sing, using the pencil he'd been writing with as a microphone. Nick could only stare in wonder and listen.

_You're on the phone with your girlfriend, she's upset  
She's going off about something that you said  
'Cause she doesn't get your humor like I do  
I'm in the room, it's a typical Tuesday night  
I'm listening to the kind of music she doesn't like  
And she'll never know your story like I do_

_But she wears short skirts, I wear t-shirts  
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find  
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time_

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you  
Been here all along so why can't you see  
You belong with me, you belong with me_

_Walking the streets with you in your worn out jeans  
I cant help thinking this is how it ought to be  
Laughing on the park bench thinking to myself  
Hey isn't this easy  
And you've got a smile that could light up this whole town  
I haven't seen it in awhile, since she brought you down  
You say you're fine I know you better than that  
Hey, whatcha doing with a girl like that_

_She wears high heels, I wear sneakers  
She's cheer captain and I'm on the bleachers  
Dreaming bout the day when you'll wake up and find  
That what you're looking for has been here the whole time_

_If you could see that I'm the one who understands you  
Been here all along so why can't you see  
You belong with me  
Standing by and waiting at your back door  
All this time how could you not know, baby  
You belong with me, you belong with me_

_Oh I remember you driving to my house in the middle of the night  
I'm the one who makes you laugh when you know you're about to cry  
I know your favorite songs and you tell me about your dreams  
I think I know where you belong, I think I know it's with me_

_Can't you see that I'm the one who understand you  
Been here all along so why can't you see  
You belong with me  
Standing by and waiting at your back door  
All this time how could you not know, baby  
You belong with me, you belong with me  
_

_You belong with me  
Have you ever thought just maybe  
You belong with me, you belong with me_

When it was over Greg laughed and bounced over to his stereo, skipping back to the start of the song and singing it all over again, yelling the lyrics at the top of his lungs in a way he usually reserved for the best of the Manson songs. When he had wound down the second time he was shaking his head at himself. He left the volume up high but flopped back on to the bed, lying on his front and putting his part-time microphone back to use as a pencil. With a gaping mouth, Nick pushed the door open wide and just stood there. It took a moment for Greg to look up, and he only did so because he'd paused to bop his head to the music. He caught sight of Nick in the doorway and grinned.

"Hey Nicky!" he called over top the music. Only Greg Sanders had ever had the courage to call him that. No one else wanted to risk giving nicknames to the captain of the football team. Nick just stood there staring at him. Then he crossed the room, ignoring his friend's confused voice, and went straight to stereo. He rewound and stood there while the song Greg had been singing played through a third time, listening very carefully to every lyric. When it was over he reached out and pressed stop, and silence descended on the room in a thick blanket.

Slowly, Nick turned and looked over his shoulder at his friend. Greg was sitting on the edge of the bed, his legs swinging nervously, and his face apprehensive. Obviously, he knew that Nick had figured him out. Nick couldn't do much more than stare at him. The two of them were quiet for a long time, neither wanting to break the silence first. Eventually, Nick couldn't take the staring contest and he looked away first. He faced forward again and pressed play, flipping through the songs on what he assumed was a custom mix CD.

Judy had been right, they were all by Taylor Swift, and most of them were about loving someone you can't have. The first few were Invisible, Hey Stephan, Teardrops On My Guitar, and Stay Beautiful, and Nick knew from his friend's mom that he listened to these a lot lately. He didn't even have to wonder why, he'd known since the first few lyrics had come out of Greg's mouth. It did, however, take a few more moments for him to decide what he wanted to do about it. He thought back over the past year and he smiled.

Greg looked even more nervous when Nick spun on the spot and started walking over towards him with decisive steps. But the older boy smiled as he reached the edge of the bed and didn't stop. Greg tried to shuffle backwards, afraid he was going to get hit, but Nick crawled over him with a predatory look and pinned him down with a simple yet effective maneuver. He kissed him. Greg's body immediately froze, but his lips definitely did not. He responded to the kiss in a way that had Nick's collar heating rapidly. Not even Catherine could get a rise like this out of him, and suddenly he knew why. What a way to figure out you're gay, he thought.

As they pulled apart, both panting slightly, Greg looked up at him and Nick almost fell in to those twin pools of chocolate they were so deep. He smiled and leaned in for a second kiss, relishing the feel of soft, inexperienced lips against his own. Greg moaned quietly and the sound went straight to Nick's jeans, constricting them. Reluctantly, he pulled away again and smirked.

"Ok, we both know you're smarter than me, so you don't really need to rub it in my face that you figured this out first." He felt his heart soar when Greg laughed underneath him. The blonde looked down and Nick followed his gaze. One of his knees was between Greg's spread knees, and he had his hands pressed down on the bed on either side of the younger boy's torso, successfully pinning him there. When Greg looked back up he had one eyebrow raised.

"You really didn't want me to get away, huh?" he teased. Nick chuckled.

"Shut up, I doubt you're complaining," he retorted. Greg thought about it for a few moments, and then shrugged.

"Nope, no complaints here, as long as you kiss me again." He grinned seductively and Nick bit his lip to try and keep in a groan. It didn't work. Not that he cared, because seconds later he had his lips pressed against Greg's, and their tongues were feverishly battling for dominance. Nick shifted his weight all over to one hand, lifting the other so he could run it up Greg's thigh. When he received a shiver in response it made him shiver too. He used his teeth to give Greg a gentle nip, eliciting a second shiver, and then trailed his kisses down his friend's smooth creamy neck.

He wasn't exactly sure how much farther they would have gotten if they had had the time to continue. He'd never had sex with a girl, never felt the urge, but he never expected to still be a virgin at almost eighteen years old. So he wasn't sure how far he would have taken it, had Judy not picked that moment to reopen the door and walk right in, shrieking in surprise when she spotted them on the bed, compromising position and all. Both teenagers froze and stared at each other in horror, their heads slowly turning in unison to see a very surprised mother standing at the end of the bed, not five feet away from them.

"Well…I…I suppose you'll want dinner…later…then…" Judy flustered her way through a partial sentence, her eyelids fluttering wildly in shock, before turning around and marching right back out of the room. Greg and Nick stared after her, then stared at each other. All of a sudden all they could do was laugh hysterically. Nick rolled off and away, and they convulsed side by side for a good ten minutes before they calmed down enough to just lie there, staring up at the ceiling. Nick tittered a couple more times before turning his head, meeting Greg's sparkling eyes.

"I do believe I just earned myself a boyfriend," he said in wonder. Greg laughed at him, but they both sobered quickly when the blonde sat up and wrapped his arms around his knees, dropping his chin on to them and giving Nick a solemn look.

"What about Catherine?" he asked. "And what about your father?" Nick sat up too, dropping his legs over the edge of the mattress and playing with a loose thread on the blanket. It occurred to him that no one with as much money as Greg should own blankets with loose threads. Then he realized that he was avoiding thinking about the question, and he knew why. He heaved a sigh and ran his hands down his face, but halfway down they froze and he grinned behind them.

"You're coming to my game tomorrow, right?" he asked. Greg blinked as Nick changed topics at lightening speed, but he could go with the flow in almost any situation.

"Of course I am, I go to all your games, don't I?" he grinned. "Just because I don't go to the after party doesn't mean I'm not at the actual games. Can you imagine what people would do if I showed up to one of those parties?" the blonde snickered and Nick smiled too. It would cause havoc and mayhem, and Greg would most likely receive a beating from drunken 'popular' kids.

"Everything will be fine," he assured the younger boy, reaching out and pulling him closer. Greg leered as he swung around and straddled Nick's lap. Nick blinked, but had absolutely no complaints. He reached around and palmed the perfectly round globes of Greg's ass, subsequently pressing their torsos together. Greg tilted his head and leaned farther in, kissing Nick in quite a heated manner. Before anything serious could happen though, he pulled back and smiled contentedly.

"Let's go find my mother, shall we?" he suggested. "I really hope she's not having a coronary somewhere around here." They laughed together and Greg slipped off Nick's lap. When they were both standing, Nick reached out and took his new boyfriend's hand, closing his own firmly around it. The smile he received for the gesture was blinding, and it set his heart to racing in a manner he'd thought was all storybook tales.

As it turned out, Judy had been having suspicions about the two of them for a while. It was only their position on the bed that had shocked her, but she was fine with their relationship. Actually, she discretely pressed a couple of condoms in to Greg's hands that he showed to Nick later. They had a good laugh over that, trying hard to ignore the heat that rose between them at the thought of how they could use the gifts. The three of them told Greg's father over dinner, and he took it fairly well. He admitted that it might take some time to adjust his thinking, but also hurried to assure them that he was not in any way disappointed in either of them.

All in all, Nick thought that the evening had been a much better success then he had originally thought it would be. Not only did he dodge going to the movies with a bunch of annoying girls, he'd gotten himself a boyfriend _and_ been accepted by the boyfriend's parents! When he crawled in to bed that night his head was in a whirl. He had a lot to think about with the situation about his father and Catherine swirling around his thoughts. He knew what he wanted to do, and he knew what his father would want him to do. The trick was gaining the confidence to do the right one. By the time he fell asleep he knew which one would happen, and he knew how.

The next day was Friday, and Nick knew that Greg would be in the library during their breaks from class. As per their usual routine, though, he didn't go for a visit. He knew Greg wasn't expecting him either, since he had to talk to his coach about that night's game anyway. He spent his lunch hour with the rest of his team, hammering out last minute details of their strategy, and as soon as the end of the day bell rang he headed off to the locker rooms to change in to his uniform. He was nervous, like he always was before games, but even some of his teammates noticed that it was worse that day.

As soon as they hit the field, all of them decked out in red and black, the colors of their school, Nick spotted Greg in the stands. He stood out from everyone else because he was wearing a jersey that was about eight sizes too big for him, a jersey that actually belonged to Nick. The quarterback smiled because he'd forgotten that he left that at Greg's house, and it was just like him to wear it, knowing that no one was going to notice. No one noticed Greg Sanders. Ever. Then the game started and Nick berated himself time and again to just concentrate.

It was hard though, because every time he looked in a certain direction he would see Greg on the bleachers, jumping and screaming and cheering him on, only him. And right in front of Greg was the cheerleading squad, Catherine always out in front, waving her pompoms and shaking her assets. Why Greg chose to sit there specifically, Nick did not have time to wonder. He looked over at halftime, when the cheer squad took over the field to do a rather sultry routine that involved more suggestive posturing then actually dancing. But Greg had disappeared from his seat, and Nick couldn't see him when he looked around. He was back just as the game started up again.

The rest of the game was a hard fight, with both teams running neck and neck, neither pulling ahead very far for very long. At long last Nick felt the familiar rush of adrenaline as the ball entered his hand for the final time, mere seconds left on the clock, and his legs pushed their speed to the limit. There was a roaring in his ears that had nothing to do with the crowd as he passed in to the end zone and scored the winning touchdown just as the clock buzzed, and the first thing he did was tear of his helmet and run back to the rest of his team, waiting to pat him on the back. Then he turned.

At his first look at the bleachers, Catherine ran out towards him, obviously hoping to get in to the picture for the school paper. But as she reached him, Nick put out his hands and stopped her, scanning his eyes over the stands full of people, and caught the eyes of the only one that matters. He grinned slyly and crooked a finger. Across the field, Greg dropping his jaw and pointed at himself, asking if Nick were actually serious. When Nick nodded, he gaped for a few more seconds before exploding. He turned and leapt off the side of the bleachers, tucking in and rolling on the grass to absorb the blow of the jump, since he'd been sitting at the top.

The half of the people covering the bleachers that were students stopped moving and stared in wonder as little loser Greg Sanders bolted out across the field wearing a genuine football jersey. And Nick's teammates looked at Nick funny as he calmly started to walk out to meet him. Then Nick was sure that half the student body fought not to faint when they collided and Nick swept Greg up in his arms, spinning them both in a circle. A few people actually did faint, he found out later, when he set Greg back on his feet and leaned over to plant a kiss right on his lips. Greg enthusiastically threw his arms around Nick's neck and kissed right back. When they pulled apart they were laughing, bumping their foreheads together affectionately.

A scream of confusion – or maybe rage, quite possibly even disgust – pulled them from each other. They, along with the rest of the team, looked over to see Catherine Willows standing there, pompoms on hips and angry frown on face.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" she demanded in a half screech. Nick looked over at Greg, who was grinning like he was the one who just won the game, then looked back to the blond cheerleader.

"You were just officially dumped," he informed her. "For a guy." Then he winked at her and turned, giving Greg another kiss. Then he grabbed the younger boy's hand and led him away towards the lockers. He couldn't wait to get out of his uniform and in to some jeans and a t-shirt. All that padding was keeping him from pulling Greg as close as he wanted to.

They were stopped, however, as they were passing by the parking lot. A tall, skinny, but still dangerous looking man stepped around an expensive looking car and blocked their path. Both boys felt their spines straighten as they often automatically did in the presence of Judge William Stokes. He did not look very happy. In fact, he looked like he was about to burst a vein in his forehead, neck, or somewhere else vital. His arms were very firmly crossed across his chest, and his hands were fisted. His mouth was pursed so tight his lips were white and his brows were drawn so far down that they actually shadowed his eyes. Nick, however, did not cower away.

"What do you think you're doing?" Judge Stokes demanded. "They're never going let a gay boy play quarterback!" Nick grimaced, but held on to Greg's hand a little tighter.

"Well then I guess they'll find a different quarterback, won't they?" he shot back. "I'll be staying at Greg's tonight," he added, not giving his father any chance to argue. It wasn't a request, and the judge knew it. He spluttered, but Nick was already walking away, Greg walking right along side of him. The blonde looked back over their shoulders to see the grown man actually stamp his foot before wrenching open the door of his expensive car and sliding in.

"You're going to pay for that later, you know," he commented dryly. Nick remained silent until they had stepped in to the empty locker rooms, then he pulled Greg in close, swiping his unruly hair away from his face.

"I'd go through worse for you," he declared. Greg smiled. "By the way, did you know you look sinfully sexy in my jersey? I'm thinking you sleep in that tonight…with nothing else on." He quickly tore off the jersey he himself was wearing and tossed his armor to the floor before reaching out and _finally_ crushing their chests together. It was amazing how he hadn't thought of how good this would feel. It felt so right.

Greg only answer was to turn around and impatiently pull Nick's jeans and t-shirt out of his locker, shoving them in his direction with a pointed look on his face. The older boy got the hint immediately, stripping down and changing right in front of his boyfriend, nothing he hadn't done before when they were just best friends. When his equipment was haphazardly stuffed in to his sports locker they linked hands and literally ran out of the school, eager to get back to Greg's home and have some quality alone time.

The thing they were both looking forward to the most, though, was the rumors that would surely start that very night. Tomorrow was going to be fun – very fun.


End file.
